Colossians chapter 3. Colossians
chapter 3. Boy, that song just puts everything
right there in perspective, doesn't it? It's wonderful. Absolutely
wonderful. Colossians chapter 3. It ties
in with the name of the message is thankfulness. Thankfulness. Colossians chapter 3. We'll be
reading from verse 1. Verse 17, If ye then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above, for Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Set your affections on things
above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life
is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall ye appear Then shall ye also appear with
him in glory. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the
earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil conspicuousness,
and covetousness which is idolatry. For which things sake the wrath
of God cometh upon the children of disobedience, in the which
ye also walked some time when ye lived in them. But now ye
also put off all these, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy
communication out of your mouth, lie not one to another, seeing
that ye have put off the old man with his deeds, and have
put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the
image of him that created him. Where there is neither Greek
nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor
free, but Christ is all and in all. Put on, therefore, as the
elect of God, holy and beloved, vows of mercy, kindness, humbleness
of mind, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another and forgiving
one another. If any man have a quarrel against
any, even as Christ forgive you, so also do ye. And above all
these things put on charity, which we know is love, which
is the bond of perfectness. Here's where we're getting our
text, verse 15, and let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to
which also ye are called in one body, and be ye thankful. Be
ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell
in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with
grace in your hearts to the Lord. Whatsoever you do, in word or
deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. given thanks
to God and the Father by Him. I was talking to Vicki about
the message this morning and just about thankfulness in general.
And I said, you know, we who are beloved of God, we who are
the redeemed of God, We have to be the most thankful, most
joyous people in the world. Now, I know we battle with the
flesh. I know that. I know we do. And sin... But really, when we stop and
think about it, we are purchased by the blood of Christ. We are
justified before God. We walk around amongst others
who don't have that. We walk around amongst others
who are perishing in their sins, who God just leaves alone. And we are redeemed, chosen by
God, purchased by Christ in His precious blood. When we ponder that, it'll fill
you full of thankfulness for what God has done for you. And
we ought to be thankful. And I know, like I said, I know
we struggle with sin. We do all the time, don't we?
And we get down, we get depressed. Why art thou cast down, O my
soul? And why art thou disheartened of me? Hope thou in God, for
I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. David
cried that out. Believers get depressed, they get down. I'm
not talking about this so-called mountaintop Christianity that
religion peddles. But we ought to be thankful,
aren't we? for what he's done for us. When we ponder, when
we're in those situations, and this is what's helped me when
I get depressed or when I get down, because I do, I admit I
do, when I get in those situations, to ponder what Christ has done
for me, to ponder that he chose me in eternity, to ponder that
he came to this earth and purchased me with his precious blood. It
makes me thankful. It makes me so thankful. So let's consider verse 15, it
says, And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which
also ye are called in one body, and be ye thankful. Now the foundation
of being truly thankful, or the necessity of being thankful,
must be in the understanding, and that understanding is given
to us, that what we have in Christ is not a result of our own efforts.
It's not a result of our own efforts. It's not a result of
our talents or our goodness, because we know that there's
none good but God. But rather, what we have in Christ
is a gift from the Almighty. It's a gift. We who are redeemed have been
granted and given the gift of faith, of repentance before God. And the Apostle Paul was well
acquainted with this truth because he said this, and think of this.
Think of this in light of all the friends you've known all
your life. Think of this in light of your family members and friends
who do not know Christ. For who maketh thee to differ? And what do you have that you
didn't receive? For who maketh thee to differ
from another? And what hast thou that thou didst not receive?
We didn't earn it. We could never earn it. We could
never merit it. The only thing we deserve is
hell. But the believer who is redeemed by the precious blood
of Christ will one day be in glory with Christ. Who maketh thee to differ? Who
distinguished you from amongst all your family and your friends?
Only God. And when we think about that,
it fills our hearts with joy. Me? Yes. Oh, my goodness. For who maketh thee to differ
from another? And what is thou that thou didst not receive?
Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou
hadst not received it? So to be thankful is a natural
result of being made aware of who it is that has made us to
differ. Turn, if you would, to James
chapter one. Who has made us to differ? Well, it's God and
God alone. And when man is made to know
the weakness of his flesh, when God reveals the sinfulness of
his heart and his natural inability to seek after righteousness,
that man is born again by the Holy Spirit of God, man or woman,
and made willing and flees to Christ. And then we live a life
of bowing down and thanking God for his goodness and his mercy
and his grace to us. My goodness, I don't deserve
this. If someone thinks they deserve it, they don't know Christ.
We don't deserve this, do we? Look at what it says in James
1, verse 17. And think of this in light of
salvation in Christ. Every good gift and every perfect
gift is from above. Who made you to differ? God.
And God alone. and cometh down from the Father
of lives, with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow
of turning." Oh, the believer is thankful.
We thank the Lord of heaven and earth for His great mercy towards
us in Christ Jesus our Lord. The mercy that's been shown us
in Christ. But as long as man entertains
some notion of his own worthiness to receive the blessings of the
Lord, he cannot and will not have a true spirit of thanksgiving.
But he's only paying lip service to being thankful. Meanwhile,
in his heart, he's convinced that he somehow is deserving
of these blessings or has performed some deed that has earned them
for himself. And he's built himself a refuge
of lies. Now, humility and thankfulness,
they go hand in hand. Humility and thankfulness go
hand in hand. Turn if you would to Romans chapter
1. And pride is the enemy of thanksgiving or being thankful. Pride is the enemy of thanksgiving
or being thankful. Look at Romans. Romans chapter 1. Verse 21, Because that when they knew God,
they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful. They're
full of pride. They're swelled with pride, but
became vain in their own imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
God's people are humble people. We've been made humble by God. And we thank Him. We thank Him. If you would, Luke chapter 18.
Luke chapter 18. Now the Pharisee in Luke 18,
he thanked God, right? But it was the prayer of a hypocrite,
wasn't it? Because he made reference to his own righteousness in the
same breath. Look at Luke chapter 18. Look
at this. Verse 10. Two men went up to
the temple to pray. One a Pharisee, a religious man,
and the other a publican. We know what the Jews thought
of publicans. The Pharisee stood and prayed
thus with himself. God, I thank Thee that I'm not
as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as
this publican. Oh my, that self-righteous religious
Pharisee. Look what he's done. Now he's
going to tell the Lord what he does for him. I fast twice in
the week. I give tithes of all that I possess."
And here's that publican, beloved. Here's that publican, which is
a picture of the redeemed of Christ. And the publican, standing
afar, would not so much as lift his eyes. Why not? Because he
knew what he was. He'd been humbled. He'd been
bought low. There's the Pharisee telling
God everything he does for him. And the publican won't even look
up. Would not lift up so much his eyes to heaven, but smote
upon his breast saying, God be merciful to me, a sinner. Oh, I tell you this man went
down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone
that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth
himself shall be exalted. So humility and thankfulness
go hand in hand, beloved. Hand in hand. And so we who are the beloved
of God, we who are redeemed of God, we should thank Him. But what should we thank Him
for? Well, we should be thankful for all things He has given us
in Christ. Ephesians 5 20 says this giving
thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ We should be thankful for things
temporal and we should be thankful for things eternal We should
thank and be thankful for our preservation and all the mercies
of life For Christ and all the spiritual blessings that are
in him that are ours Because of him because of what he's done
We should be thankful for electing, redeeming, sanctifying, adopting,
pardoning and justifying grace. My. And we should be thankful
for being made fit. Qualified for heaven, Colossians
being made fit for heaven. Clothed in the perfect righteousness
of Christ. We should be thankful for eternal
life itself, which is only in Christ. We should be thankful
for the Gospel and that God has revealed that to us. Revealed
Christ to us through the preaching of His Word. We should be thankful
for the promises and the truths and the ordinances and the ministry
and the message of salvation in Christ alone. Because there's
millions of other folks out there who are totally oblivious to
the message or just shaking their fist at God. And think of this, you who are
beloved of God. Christ has revealed himself to
you through the preaching of the gospel. My, it'll fill your
heart with joy. It'll fill your heart with joy. And we should be thankful also
that he's blessed us with the fellowship of brethren. We'd
be thankful for one another. Fellow soldiers. We're not alone. Why? Turn, if you would, to Ephesians
chapter 1. And I'll read Colossians chapter
3. Again, verses 15 to 17. And let the peace of God rule
in your hearts, to which also ye are called in one body, and
be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell
in you richly. in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with
grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever you do in word
or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving
thanks to God and the Father by Him and in Him. Look at Ephesians
1.16. Cease not to give thanks for
you, making mention of you in my prayers. Paul delighted and
rejoiced in his brethren in Christ. He was thankful for his brethren
in Christ. My, what a blessing. What a blessing. God's people
are even to the believer, to each individual believer. Turn, if you would, to Colossians
chapter 1. We should be thankful that He has caused our brethren
to walk in faith and love, bringing untold blessings to us by their
example. Romans 1 verse 8 says this. First,
I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all. that your
faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. Paul thanked
God for the fellow saints, that their faith was spoken of throughout
the whole world. That their example of resting
and trusting in Christ was spoken of. Why? Look at Colossians 1,
verses 3-6, being thankful for our brethren. We give thanks
to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always
for you. since we heard of your faith
in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints."
God's people are thankful for one another and they love one
another. "...for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven,
where have ye heard before in the word of the truth of the
gospel, which is come unto you as it is into all the world,
and bringeth forth fruit." Also, "...bringeth forth fruit as it
does also in you since the day you heard it and knew the grace
of God in truth." So we should be thankful for our brethren
that God has given them hearing ears and seeing eyes, just like
He did for us. It's wonderful. It's wonderful. And we should be thankful that
He gives us daily bread. Peace be to the brethren and
love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
forbidding the Mary and commanding to abstain from meats which God
hath created to be received with thanksgiving. We're to receive
what the Lord puts on our table. And think of this, when you sit
down for a meal next time, and you see that food in front of
you, ponder that God providentially bought that to your table. He
bought that for you? It's His provision to you. It's
wonderful. It's absolutely wonderful. Whether
you're eating at a restaurant or whether you're eating at home,
He provided that for you to enjoy. To enjoy. Which God hath created to be
received with thanksgiving. And be thankful for it. Of them
which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is
good, and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving. Receive what God gives you with
thanksgiving. Be thankful for it. Now, think
upon who we should be thankful to. The one true God. He's a sovereign God. He has
no rival, and He needs no aid. Saying, we give thanks, O Lord
Almighty, which art It was an art to come because Thou hast
taken to Thee Thy great power and has reigned. Revelation 11,
7. This is the one who we are to
be thankful to. Our great sovereign God. He's
a holy God. And you know, He delights in
righteousness. Turn, if you would, to Psalm 97. And also Psalm 30
and Psalm 97. He delights in righteousness.
He's holy, beloved. He delights in righteousness.
He's a holy God who delights in righteousness. And this is
the one who we're to be thankful to. Look at Psalm 30, verse 4. Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints
of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness.
Ponder the Lord's holiness. Just ponder it. He who can have
no sin in His presence. He who is perfectly holy. He who is perfectly righteous. This is the one whom we're to
be thankful to. And then look at Psalm 97, verse
12. And we're to rejoice. Look at
this. Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous. Think about the one who saved
you. Think about the one who sent him. Rejoice, oh rejoice,
beloved. Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous.
those who are made righteous by Christ and give thanks at
the remembrance again of His holiness. Remember who is God,
holy and righteous. And you know that He delights
in mercy. Turn if you would to Psalm 106, just a few psalms
over. He delights mercy and here display his goodness
to his people look at this first one Psalm 106 praise ye the Lord
Oh give thanks unto the Lord for he is good for his mercy
what endureth forever forever oh he's a God who delights in
mercy his mercy endureth forever beloved and this should fill
us full of praise and thanksgiving. And He is the One who has given
us His Word and revealed Christ to us. For this cause also thank
we God without ceasing, because when you received the Word of
God which you heard of us, you received it not as the Word of
man, but as it is in truth, the Word of God which effectively
worketh also in you that believe. We should praise God We who are
redeemed because He's revealed Christ to us through the preaching
of His Word. It'll make you thankful when
you think about it. There's many others who He's not revealed
that to. Who He's not revealed Christ
to. Who hear the Word and it goes right by them. Who made you to differ? Oh my. Oh what a great God we have.
What a great God we have. And He's filled our hearts with
joy, beloved. 1 Thessalonians 3, 9 says, For
what thanks can we render to God again for you? For all the
joy wherewith we joy, for your sakes before our God. And He
has given to us the unspeakable gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 9, 15, Scripture
proclaims, Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift. Christ. Christ alone. Oh, it makes God's
people thankful. Turn, if you would, to Romans
chapter 7. Think of this. He's given us deliverance from
and victory over the power of sin. Now, we still have sin in
our presence, don't we? Well, we still sin. But, oh,
we have victory in Christ over the power of sin. And one day,
one day, the presence will be gone. So He's given us deliverance
from and victory over the power of sin. Look at Romans chapter
7 verses 23 to 25. But I see another law in my members,
warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity
to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that
I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Well,
look at verse 25. I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. So then with the mind I myself
serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. He
has victory in deliverance from sin in and through Christ and
Christ alone. But thanks be to God which giveth
us the victory over, the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15.57 What a Savior! What a Redeemer! Turn, if you would, to 1 Corinthians
2. And He has shown us the success and the triumph of His Gospel
by the conversion of sinners. 1 Corinthians 2, verses 1-5. And I, brethren, when I came
to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring
unto you the testimony of God. For I am determined not to know
anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And
I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
In my speech and in my preaching was not with enticing words of
man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power of God,
that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of man, but in
the power of God. So He has shown us the success
and triumph of His gospel in the conversion of sinners. This
is the one who we are to praise. This is the one to whom we are
to be thankful. But God be thanked that ye were the servants of
sin. But you have obeyed from the
heart that former doctrine which was delivered you. We give thanks to God and the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you. My. Why should we thank him? Because
he's commanded us to thank him. He's commanded us. Turn, if you
would, to Psalm 50, verse 14. Look at Psalm 50, verse 14. And think, the heavenly creatures,
the heavenly angels, they thank Him, they praise Him. Day and
night. Day and night. Look at Psalm
50. Offer unto God thanksgiving.
Verse 14, and pay thy vows unto the Most High. Oh, we're to be
thankful. We should thank Him for the good
things, the great things He had done for us. In glory, they praise Him. And our Lord and Savior has set
an example for us that we should follow in His steps. And He was
continually thanking His Heavenly Father. Turn, if you would, to
Matthew chapter 11. And then put your finger in Matthew
26. We are to be thankful. Thankful
to our Heavenly Father. Matthew 11, verse 25. At that time Jesus answered and
said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, Because
thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast
revealed them unto babes. And then turn to Matthew 26.
Matthew 26. He was continually thankful. Verses 27 to 29. He took the
cup and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye
all of it. For this is my blood of the New
Testament, which is shed for many for the remissions of sins.
But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit
of the vine until the day I drink it new with you in my Father's
kingdom. Look at verse 27. He took the
cup and gave thanks. Oh my. When you see that food
in front of you, and I'm not talking about what religious
folks do when they go to a restaurant and they all hold hands and bow
their head. I had someone tell me, did you pray for that food?
Little did they know, as I was eating the food, I'm thanking
the Lord for it. We don't have to put no show
on to people. We don't, do we? We're thankful.
So when you're sitting and eating, just be thankful. Be thankful. I remember hearing this story
of this old preacher. He was sitting with a young preacher.
And the young preacher, the Lord, he was young in the faith, And
he was sitting there, and him and his wife, and they sat down
at the table with this older preacher. And the old preacher
just started eating. And they were out at a restaurant,
and the young preacher, are we going to pray over that food?
And the old preacher's eating, and he supposedly just looked
up and said, are you thankful? And the young man said, yes,
of course I am. And he says, does God know you're thankful?
He said, yeah, because let's see. See, you're thankful. Are you thankful for what God's
given you? Hey, it's not a show. Be thankful. Brother John and Sister Ruth,
your garden, it just flows with with things that the Lord's given
you and you're thankful for it. You're thankful for it. We're
thankful for the things that the Lord. We're thankful for
our job. We're thankful. We're thankful for the things
that God gives us. We don't have to put no show on. Just thank
Him. And no one else has to even know.
They shouldn't know. They shouldn't know. Oh my. My. Thankful for the great things
He's done for us. And Jesus took the loaves and
when He had given thanks, He distributed to His disciples
and to the disciples to them. that were sat down, and likewise
of the fishes, as much as they would. So it's a good thing to
give thanks to the Lord. It's a good thing for us. Because
He's done so much for us. You know, in this lifetime, we
could never thank Him enough. We who are redeemed, we could
never thank Him enough for what He's done for us. We could spend
a lifetime of being thankful and never being. But that's not
what it's about for us. We just thank Him from a grateful
heart for what He has done for us. Turn, if you would, to Psalm
92. Psalm 92. Psalm 92, verse 1 and 2. It's a good thing to give thanks
unto the Lord. It's a good thing to sing praises
unto his name. Psalm 92, verses 1 and 2. It's
a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord and to sing praises
unto thy name. O Most High, to show forth Thy
lovingkindness in the morning, and Thy faithfulness every night. And when should we thank Him?
All the time. All the time. When we're alone
in our prayer closet, or when we're driving down the road by
ourselves, or when we're with family members who also love
Christ, we should be thankful, aren't we? Be thankful. Our hearts
should overflow and our lips We praise Him for what He's done
for us. And when we're gathered together
with God's people in a place of public worship, we should
give Him thanks. We should give Him thanks for
what He's done. And to be thankful to Him, because
He's the reason we're gathering together. Christ and Christ alone.
He's the reason The preacher gets up and preaches
who they preach about. They don't preach about themselves.
They preach about him, about Christ, about Christ. And we rejoice, don't we? God's
people rejoice. And then we give him thanks for
what he's done for us. My. What a savior. Therefore, I will
give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen and sing praises
unto thy name. We should always be thankful,
giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And how should we thank
Him? Well, we should be thanking Him
with our lips and with our hearts. And giving thanks is not an activity,
not just a thought process. Again, we thank Him by opening
our mouths, by praising Him for what He's done. By Him, therefore,
let us offer the sacrifice of praises to God continually, that
is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name." Thank Him
for what He's done for you. Thank Him. Let us close with
Colossians 1, verses 12 to 15. Colossians 1, verses 12 to 15. giving thanks unto the Father
which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light." That word meet there means qualified.
Colossians 1 verse 12, giving thanks unto the Father which
hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints
in life. God made us fit or qualified
to be saints all those who are saved by the grace of God, through
the righteousness and blood of Christ, we are unfit by our natural
birth to be partakers of the inheritance of grace. The only
thing we deserve is to be a partaker of God's holy judgment against
our sin. But thank God that he in sovereign
mercy is the one who has made us fit, the one who has made
us fit for His presence. How? Through Christ Jesus our
Lord. Through the righteousness of
Christ. And thinking upon this will make the believer thankful.
Because we could never make ourselves fit. We could never qualify ourselves
for heaven. By anything we do. And then look
at verse 13. Who hath delivered us from the
power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear
Son. God delivered His people God
delivers sinners from the power of sin, from the power of sin. We were in the darkness of sin
and spiritual ignorance by birth. And because of our spiritual
condition, we were unable to deliver ourselves from that horrible
position. We lacked the power and we lacked
the ability. But He who has all power, and
He who has the ability, and is able to save to the othermost
those who come to Him, those who are made willing according
to His mighty power. God translated us. God translated
us, we who are redeemed. who hath delivered us from the
power of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear
Son. God has translated us into the
kingdom of his dear Son. Every believer is being called
out of darkness, called out of darkness into his marvelous light
through the preaching of the Gospel and through the effectual
working of the Holy Spirit of God, born again by the Holy Spirit
of God. And when we ponder this, it will
make the believer Thankful, thankful. Look at verse 14. In whom we
have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. Now, God himself has redeemed
us through his precious blood. When Christ died upon that cross,
he died for his sheep. And it says, in whom we have
redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.
And God has only designed one way of redemption from sin, only
one way. And it's through the effectual,
eternal blood atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we not
only have forgiveness of sin in Christ, but we have also righteousness
established in Him and freely imputed to us. And this salvation and this pardon
is from all sin. All sin. And it's received by us and it's
given by God. And it's through faith and not
works. Therefore it is of faith that
it might be by grace to the end the promise might be sure to
all the seed. Romans 4.16 And thinking upon
this, thinking upon this, the forgiveness of all our sins. All of them. I mean every single
one of them. Ones we don't even know we commit. It'll make a
believer thankful. It'll make a believer thankful. Look at verse 15. Who is the
image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature?
God Himself is our Redeemer. God Himself. God himself, the Lord Jesus Christ,
is the image of the invisible God, scripture declares. God himself is our Redeemer.
God manifested in the flesh. And this gives power and glory
to all his priestly work that he performed on the behalf of
his covenant people. Turn, if you would, to Hebrews
chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13. This makes God's people thankful And I'm not talking being on
the mountaintop all the time I'm not talking about that because
we get down like I said we get depressed But this this will
bring you joy This will bring you joy now the God of peace
that bought again from the dead our Lord Jesus that great shepherd
of the sheep through the blood of of the everlasting covenant,
make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working
in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ,
to whom be glory forever and ever." Hebrews 13, verses 20
and 21. Salvation is of the Lord. It's
all His doing. And all according to His eternal
purpose. In sovereign grace revealed,
And given in Christ Jesus our Lord, makes God's people very,
very thankful. Let us leave here pondering the
scripture. For who made you to differ? God. God. May we leave here rejoicing.
Rejoicing with a thankful heart to our great God and King. Heavenly
Father, we come before Thy throne with thankful and grateful hearts,
we who are the redeemed, we who are purchased by Thy precious
blood, thankful for the great salvation which was wrought on
our behalf by the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone. We who
lack power and ability to save ourselves have been redeemed
and saved by He who has all power and all ability, because we know
with God all things are possible. O Lord, may we who are redeemed,
may we who are saved, think about this this week and ponder these
great truths in Jesus' name. Amen.